Articles and Blogs

On July 15, a new law in Kentucky took effect that expands the prescribing authority for advanced practice registered nurses (“APRNs”). Kentucky Revised Statutes 314.042 allows APRNs that have been prescribing non-scheduled legend drugs under physician supervision for four years to prescribe these drugs without physician oversight. Proponents of the law say that the... READ MORE

Kentucky pharmacists take note: soon you may have to update your prescription drug tracking and dispensation procedures to reflect proposed changes to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations. Section 045 of Chapter 55 in Title 902 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations currently contains a list of drugs that are excluded from the licensing, distribution, recordkeeping and... READ MORE

Executive Summary The Department of Health & Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently released a Supplemental Special Advisory Bulletin (“Supplemental Bulletin”) on the potential fraud and abuse implications of prescription drug patient assistance programs (“PAPs”).  The Bulletin updates OIG’s 2005 Special Advisory Bulletin (“2005 Bulletin”) on PAPs for Medicare Part D enrollees... READ MORE

Executive Summary On March 10, 2014, the Indiana Board of Pharmacy (“Board”) issued guidance regarding pharmacists’ “corresponding responsibility” in relation to the Medical Licensing Board’s new emergency rule concerning prescribing controlled substances for pain management treatment (“Rule“).1 The Board’s Corresponding Responsibility Guidance (“Guidance“)2 clarifies that the Rule does not place any new requirements on... READ MORE

In a surprise reversal, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has dropped a controversial proposed regulation that would require nursing homes to hire independent pharmacists to oversee residents’ medication regimens. The proposed rule had been developed in response to the belief that relationships between long-term care providers and pharmacy suppliers could conflict... READ MORE

CMS has published a proposed regulation that would limit the ability of institutional pharmacies to offer pharmacist consultation services to facilities.  CMS believes that relationships between nursing homes and pharmacy suppliers could result in “recommendations that conflict with the best interests of nursing home residents.” The proposed regulation would require facilities to hire independent pharmacists to... READ MORE